Karim Ouellet (December 8, 1984 – November 15, 2021) was a Senegalese-born Canadian pop singer-songwriter. He released three albums between 2011 and 2016; his second album ''Fox'' won a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Early life

Ouellet was born in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, Senegal, on December 8, 1984. He was adopted by Canadian diplomats at the age of one."Karim Ouellet démystifié"
''

La Rotonde ''La Rotonde'' is the official French-language student newspaper at the University of Ottawa. It is the oldest French-language student paper outside of Quebec. The newspaper publishes weekly throughout the fall and winter sessions on regular t ...

'', January 21, 2013. He lived in France, Rwanda and Tunisia, before his family returned to live in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

when he was 15. Ouellet learned to play the piano, percussion, and guitar as a child, and recounted composing his first song when he was seven. He took up the electric guitar as a teenager, and began playing with local bands. He met Claude Bégin in around 2005; Bégin co-wrote the lyrics and music for Ouellet's first three albums.

Career

Ouellet released his debut album, ''Plume'', in 2011, and was the second-place finisher in that year's

Francouvertes Francouvertes is an annual music festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which spotlights emerging francophone musical artists from Quebec. At the end of each year's festival, three finalists are named, following which a jury presents an award of $1 ...

competition. He toured extensively, including appearances at the

Francofolies de La Rochelle Les Francofolies () are an annual music festival founded in 1985 in La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes, France as an initiative of Jean-Louis Foulquier. It is usually held annually in July and aims at promoting French-language music. Number of thos ...

Osheaga The Osheaga Music and Arts Festival (french: Festival musique et arts Osheaga) is a multi-day indie music festival in Montreal, Quebec, that is held every summer at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Sainte-Hélène. The festival takes place on six stages ...

, and

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

festivals. He followed up with ''Fox'' in November 2012. He received three nominations at the

Félix Awards Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

in 2013, including Best Male Singer, Best Single for "L'Amour" and Pop Album of the Year. He was also designated as best new artist by

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

that year. ''Fox'' won the Francophone Album of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2014 The Juno Awards of 2014 honoured Canadian music industry achievements in the latter part of 2012 and in most of 2013. The awards were presented in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, during the weekend of 29–30 March 2014. The main ceremony took place ...

. His third album, ''Trente'', was released in March 2016. He followed up later the same year with ''Aikido'', a downloadable free mini-album. Ouellet's music follows a

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

- pop style with some

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and

African music Given the vastness of the African continent, its music is diverse, with regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres amapiano, Jùjú, Fuji, Afrobeat, Highlife, Makossa, Kizomba, and others. The ...

influences. He was also a frequent collaborator with several hip hop groups, including CEA and Movèzerbe.

Personal life

Ouellet's sister,

Sarahmée Sarahmée Ouellet (born 1988), mononymously known as Sarahmée, is a Senegalese-Canadian rapper from Quebec. She is most noted for her single "T'as pas cru", which was shortlisted for the 2019 SOCAN Songwriting Prize. The sister of singer-songwri ...

, is also a musician. He served as the French-language spokesman for

Black History Month Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently ...

in Canada in 2018. One month after what would have been his 37th birthday, Ouellet was found dead on the evening of January 17, 2022, at L'Unisson studio in

Saint-Roch Saint-Roch may refer to: In Canada: *Saint-Roch, Quebec City, a neighbourhood of Quebec City *Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, Quebec, a municipality *Saint-Roch-de-Mékinac, Quebec, a municipality *Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu, Quebec, a municipality *Saint-Ro ...

neighbourhood. While foul play was ruled out by local police, his death prompted an investigation by the municipal coroner’s office. He was reportedly working on his fourth album at the time. The coroner's report indicated that Ouellet had died two full months before his body was found, on November 15, 2021, and ruled that his cause of death was

diabetic ketoacidosis Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a potentially life-threatening complication of diabetes mellitus. Signs and symptoms may include vomiting, abdominal pain, deep gasping breathing, increased urination, weakness, confusion and occasionally loss of ...

."Quebec singer-songwriter Karim Ouellet died from complications of diabetes"

Global News Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned-and ...

, June 22, 2022.

Discography

*''Plume'' (2011) *''Fox'' (2012) *''Trente'' (2016) *''Aikido'' (2016)

References

External links

* *
Entry at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouellet, Karim 1984 births 2021 deaths 21st-century Black Canadian male singers Canadian pop singers Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian pop guitarists Canadian male guitarists Musicians from Quebec City French-language singers of Canada Juno Award for Francophone Album of the Year winners People from Dakar Senegalese emigrants to Canada Canadian male singer-songwriters Deaths from diabetes